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Note: This is a seattlepi.com reader blog. It is not written or edited by the P-I. The authors are solely responsible for content. E-mail us at newmedia@seattlepi.com if you consider a post inappropriate..

The Return of Bad Customer Service – Starring T-Mobile

I know I usually blog about movies, but I’ve had this battle with T-Mobile that I need to get off my chest.

It all started on 11/14 when my HTC One died the other day. I came home from work and my phone restarted itself numerous times and then shut off completely. I did what most people do; I went to Google to see what was happening to my phone. This is a little concerning considering I bought the phone three months ago. Either way I did everything people on Android community boards suggested – a hard reset, holding down the power button for 60 seconds, and leaving the phone plugged in all night.

I wake up the next morning to see my phone $600 phone is now just an expensive paper weight. So at lunch I headed to the T-Mobile store in Downtown Seattle on 6th ave between Pike and Pine. I promptly strolled in around 12:15 PM in hopes of getting a phone. The young lady who helped me went through all the usual stuff, plugging the phone in, checking the SIM card, trying to restart it, still nothing. So she tells me I have a few options – they can do a factory exchange or I can buy a new phone. I didn’t come in to T-Mobile that day to spend money, plus I actually like the HTC One. I just wanted my phone. The employee then tells me that my phone won’t be there until Monday. What? Monday? What am I supposed to do without a phone until Monday. She replied that I could buy one of their flip phones to use until my phone arrived or purchase ANOTHER phone.

Are you serious?

The phone T-Mobile sold me was defective and their response is that I spend more money on a product that I have absolutely no use for. For those of use that own smartphones, we’ve been sold on how these phones do a number of things allowing you stay connected on the go or keep in touch while you’re out. They didn’t sell me the phone saying, “Yeah it’s just like the flip phone and they’re pretty much interchangeable” because they’re not. I use my phone and all the bells and whistles it comes with. I don’t need some smart mouthed employee to suggest I buy a flip phone. I was insulted.

And why are they mailing me a phone? I’m looking at the exact phone I have on display yet I have to wait three days to get a phone? I have no choice but to order a phone because I don’t want to spend a bunch of money on a new phone, I just did that three months ago. The young lady orders the phone that scheduled to be in on Monday and has an attitude while explaining to me the process and had the nerve to tell me they would be adding $5 to my bill for shipping.

ARE YOU SERIOUS?

Your phone had the life span of a gnat and you’re making me pay to have another one shipped. There were no concessions made like waving that ridiculous $5 fee or prorating my account for the days I won’t have a phone. She just shrugged her shoulders (literally). I was pissed and had to leave the store before I broke something.

So I get home and vent on Twitter about my horrible customer service experience and I get the following tweet from @TmobileHelp

That’s not what we want to hear! What happened? Is there anything we can do? ^KM

So I explain what happened followed by the following tweet

I apologize for the service there is never a reason to be rude. Our stores are not equipped to do exchanges but some do (cont) have loaner phones you can use. They are flip phones and a $50 deposit but you get it all back upon return ^KM

What? First of all Ms. Shoulder Shrug didn’t even mention a loaner phone OR call around and see any local stores had loaner phones. Second, you want me to buy a flip hone PLUS put down $50 deposit because the phone you sold me was defective? What kind of customer service is that? If we sell you a crappy product, just spend more money. Unbelievable. Now if I was some guy who never paid his bill on time or was in and out of stores constantly trying to switch phones, I get it. But I don’t have one blemish on my account and I’m being treated like some lowlife.

Then comes the following tweet

Well if you have a home phone or a suitable family member we can forward your calls while you wait ^KM

THIS DOES ME ABSOLUTELY NO GOOD.

Do people own cell phones so they can have them forwarded to a home? No. Did they sell me the HTC Once because T-Mobile has great phone forwarding capabilities? No. So why are they suggesting this nonsense?

It’s because everyone is reading from the same script. They don’t care to solve any of my problems, just read from some script that stops them from spending money and gets me to spend more money despite the failed product they sold me.

After me explaining how ridiculous of an idea that was I get the following tweet

AB, I can’t contact a retail store, I don’t have a phone. Remember? That’s what this entire conversation is about. That’s when it clicked, nobody at T-Mobile is even listening, they pacify customers with concerned questions and tweets, but nobody is doing anything to help nor do they care.

Then I get this tweet

We’re here to help. Can you tell us what you’ve experienced? ^JB

Yeah, nobody is listening at all. JB just asked what I’ve experienced. I dunno JB. How about you read the tweets I sent. BUT I explain myself all over again

Then I get this tweet

We would love to get some eyes on this! Can you email us at TForce[@]T-Mobile[DOT]com with your name, mobile# and issue? ^RD

Almost 24 hours of exchanging tweets, somebody wants me to contact them to explain my issue. I send the email explain for the 343,309 time what happened and how unsatisfied I am with their service. Maybe somebody is actually going to do something That’s when I get this e-mail

Good Evening Timothy,

Thank you for taking your time to contact us about the challenges that you are having since you phone has gone down. It is important for us that you have a working phone and it does sound like you do utilize the device to the fullest. Reading through the information that you have provided, I am seeing that once were alerted that there was an issue they immediately took action to remedy this. It is unfortunate that it happened on a Friday and our fastest delivery wouldn’t arrive by Monday. I am glad that they offered our loaner phone so that you may be able to use something in the meantime.

I am sorry that we do not have another process in place that would get you a device that has all the capabilities your ONE has. If there was an alternative I would offer that but unfortunately I do not see one.

Thanks for your time,

Rick D @T-Force

Yep! They’re all reading from the same lazy script and have no plan to help me. They’re just going to keep asking me what’s wrong for 3 days until my phone shows up. It’s not important to T-Mobile that I have a working phone because you know what I haven’t had the past three days? That’s right Rick, a working phone. Rick didn’t even read what happened because he says “I am glad they offered our loaner phone”. No Rick they didn’t. And you didn’t read what happened. You just show up and offer fake concern for my problem. That’s what everyone at T-Mobile has done since I walked in with the defective phone they sold me.

How lazy and unhelpful can one company be? Is the script they all read from a word document or do they have flash cards?

T-Mobile has the absolute worst customer service. I Google’d T-Mobile Customer Service Sucks and now I don’t feel so alone.

Note: This is a seattlepi.com reader blog. It is not written or edited by the P-I. The authors are solely responsible for content. E-mail us at newmedia@seattlepi.com if you consider a post inappropriate..